316 
PLANT OF FORSAKEN GARDENS. Chap. XVIII. 
tiie moutli of an ox, the animal stands and roars with pain and 
a sense of helplessness. 
Wherever a part of the forest has been cleared for a garden, 
and afterwards abandoned, a sj)ecies of plant mth leaves like 
those of ginger springs up, and contends for the possession of 
the soil vdth a great crop of ferns. This is the case all the way 
down to Angola, and shows the great difference of climate be¬ 
tween this and the Bechuana country, where a fern, except one 
or two hardy species, is never seen. The plants above men¬ 
tioned bear a pretty pink flower close to the ground, which is 
succeeded by a scarlet fruit full of seeds, yielding, as so many 
fruits in this country do, a pleasant acid juice, which like the 
rest is probably intended as a corrective to the fluids of the 
system in the hot climate. 
On leaving the Chihune we crossed the Longe, and, as the 
day was cloudy, our guides wandered in a forest away to the 
west till we came to the river Chihombo, flowing to the E.N.E. 
My inen depended so much on the sun for guidance that, having 
seen nothing of the luminary all day, they thought we had wan¬ 
dered back to the Chiboque, and, as often happens when be¬ 
wildered, they disputed as to the point where the sun should 
rise next morning. As soon as the rains Vv-ould allow next day, 
we went off to the N.E. It would have been better to have 
travelled by compass alone, for the guides took advantage of any 
